Yep, here I am again with yet another R/Hr romance (sort of). This is set in the Yule Ball of 4th year, and what exactly the two were thinking. Focuses more on Ron. It's PG for some language, whee! Please r/r. :Þ

Disclaimer:
I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling and whoever published it does. J

Okay, so the Severing Charm
didn't exactly work as smoothly as I hoped it would. I wish I'd asked
Hermione to do the charm for me instead. Oh well, at least I'm
lace-free…count your blessings, or something, I guess.

Dean's
muttering something about me and Harry getting the most gorgeous girls as dates
for the ball. Huh. Least he's got a date he's talked to beforehand.

"Animal magnetism," I
mumbled in reply, absentmindedly yanking on the threads sticking out my cuffs. I
wish my mum had bought me robes other than this.

I'd
pulled out at least a thousand or so stray strands from my robes by the time we
reached the common room.

I
wonder where Hermione is?

More
appropriately, I wonder who she's with at the moment…not me, that's for
damn sure.

Heh
heh heh, it's really hilarious how uncomfortable Harry is around girls
sometimes—I swear, his attempts at a compliment for Parvati are really
amusing. It's getting very hard not to smirk. I should tell Hermione about
this later.

Oy,
the entrance hall's bloody crowded.

Looks
like Parvati found Padma. They're coming over to us again. Hey, she looks
really good, too. Aqua is a good color on her—them—whatever. It'd look
good on both of them…it's a given, I mean, they're both twins, so…

Her
gaze is disapproving as they stay on the fraying edges of my robes.

Now
I really, really wish my mum bought me some other robes.

Or at least Hermione had done
the Severing Charm for me—I'm sure she would've done better.

"Hi,"
I start, glancing around. "Oh no…" What the hell is Fleur doing so near
me? And why isn't Harry blocking her view of me, anyway? I duck behind him.

…your
amazing stupidity. I
conclude silently as I got back up.

"Where
the bloody hell is Hermione?"

…oops.
Did I say that out loud? I didn't mean to. I know it's rude to talk about
another girl in front of your date.

Uh-oh.
Padma looks slightly pissed. Bad way to start the night.

Now
Harry and Parvati are gone, off with the champions and their dates. Davies and
Fleur walked past Padma and I—okay, it's more of, Padma gracefully strode,
and Davies stumbled in stupor. Hehehe, he looks like a duck. I won't even
bother hiding. I've shamed myself enough anyway.

I
tiptoe to see who Krum's date is; maybe it's a pretty girl from Beauxbatons,
or maybe one of Krum's lady-stalkers, or maybe even some Gryffindor student.

Oh.

My.

God.

…well,
at least I know where Hermione is and who her date is, now.

Hermione
looks fantastic. What she did to her hair? It looks great. It isn't all
frizzy and stuff, now; it's pulled back in some elegant style thing, and it
makes her look more mature than she ever has.

Her
dress robes look really incredible on her, too…a really good change of pace
from those heavy black robes she usually wears.

And,
God…that smile…she really has a nice smile, 'specially without the
buckteeth (no offense to her or anything).

She's
waving at Harry and Parvati, and she looks better than she ever has in…well,
forever.

Hey,
everyone's starting to move into the Great Hall. I wish Padma would stop
jostling me along; it's starting to get irritating.

The
reaction of everyone to Hermione's apparent 'image change', if you would
call it that, was impressive, too. Everyone just seemed to find her stunning.
Kind of like it was a whole new Hermione.

Aw,
bloody hell, we're nearing her. What do I do?

Wave?
That wouldn't feel right, somehow.

…she's
a couple of feet away…

Drool
all over her like half the younger years are doing? I won't even think about
that one.

…a
few steps from us…

What
the hell do I do? Smile…yeah…smiling's good. A nice, complimenting smile
to satisfy her.

She's
looking right at me now, maybe even somewhat expectantly. Jeez, she's
intimidating when she's like that. I did the first thing I could think of.

I
ignored her. Swished right past with Padma pulling me along,

I
ignored her! Am I just an idiot, or something? Why didn't I just pay
her a simple compliment like, "You look good," or "Nice outfit," or
something?

I
could feel my cheeks burning. I knew I was turning an ugly crimson shade. Is
that a sign of hyperventilation? Where's my wand? I need it to conjure up a
paper bag to breathe in…Krum taps me on my shoulder and whispers in a
hushed voice:

"Ev'rything
is fine vith you, Hermyown?"

Hermyown.
I had to hold back a giggle before answering. "I'm fine, Krum. Thanks. Just
getting a little hot, is all."

"Ah,"
Krum nodded. "Ver our school is, it is very cold almost all of our time. You
very lucky to haf warmth."

"I'm
sure," I smiled indulgently at him, nodding before turning back to face my
classmates walk inside. It was probably five, ten minutes later when Professor
McGonagall told us to line up in pairs and follow her inside.

Wow,
the Great Hall's gorgeous.

Where's
Ron? I wish I could look around for him without looking like a weird prat.

Why's
Karkaroff watching us? And what's Percy doing up there—wow, he should be arrested
for having an expression as smug as that pasted all over his face.

Hermione's
coming over, I hope she doesn't comment on my ignoring her earlier.

"It's
hot, isn't it?" She muttered, moving her hand in a gesture that was supposed
to fan her or something. "Viktor's just gone to get some drinks."

I
turned to her, raising one eyebrow. "Viktor? Hasn't he asked you to call him
Vicky yet?"

Hermione
looked at me in obvious surprise.

Oh…did
I just say that out loud? Oops.

Score
another one for the Ron Is A Blundering Git board.

"What's
up with you?" she asked cluelessly.

Uh
oh, what do I say to that?

"If
you don't know I'm not going to tell you." Wow, that somehow came out
wrong, didn't it?

The
floor could open up and swallow me whole any time now.

Ron's
acting stupid again, and Harry has no idea what's up with him.

"Ron,
what--?" Oh, but of course he interrupts me.

"He's
from Durmstrang!" He muttered in an annoyed tone. "He's competing again
Harry! And Hogwarts! You're…" he paused. "fraternizing with the enemy."

What
did he just say? I can't believe my own best friend can be such an idiot.

"Don't
be so stupid!" I cried.

The
argument went on, both of us getting more and more pissed and Harry still trying
not to get in the middle.

Anyway,
it ended with me walking away with something about Vicky, as Ron so
fondly coins it.

I'd
managed to pull Harry out into the garden. The people at our table in the Great
Hall were just too annoying to stand (particularly Percy, if only I knew a spell
to shut someone up). We ran into some interesting conversations between
Karkaroff and Snape as well as Hagrid and Madame Maxime.

But
now we're back in the Great Hall, and I've just explained to Harry why being
a half-giant was bad.

We
spent the rest of the night talking about it, and how dense Madame Maxime
exactly was for thinking she could deny her—um, heritage, or something.

I
still can't believe Hermione and I fought (again) over something as stupid
as…well, what we fought about.

Wow,
it's late. Every other Durmstrang student's back in the ship except for
Krum. I guess I'd better say good night.

"Tonight
I had a very good time, Hermowninny." Krum seemed so proud to be able to
pronounce my name right that I didn't have the heart to correct him.

"I
did too, Krum." I smiled somewhat nervously. I hope he doesn't plan to kiss
me. "Thank you. Good night."

"Haf
a good night, Hermowninny." He seems to be having a lot of fun saying my name.

I
met his gaze coldly and stayed quiet before pushing past him and climbing the
stairs.

I
semi-screamed the password at the Fat Lady before she opened. I was so irritated
at—at—everything that I think I slammed the portrait behind me a little too
hard. Everyone in the common room turned to me as I walked in.

"Sorry,"
I mumbled, before I sat down on the chair nearest to the entrance and fumed.

Harry's
talking to Cedric now; apparently Mr. Pretty Boy wanted to do it alone. Might as
well go on ahead to the common room.

I
closed the Fat Lady's portrait behind me, and found Hermione sitting there,
looking about as annoyed as she had when we fought some hours ago.

"Had
a good time tonight?" I sneered as I passed by. I caught her look up out of
the corner of my eye.

"What
was that supposed to mean?" she demanded, hurrying after me and yanking
on my sleeve to get me to turn around.

"Nothing,"
I shrugged her hand off, "I was just wondering if you enjoyed spending time
with Vicky tonight."

"I
did," she answered, her voice getting slightly louder and attracting
quite a bit of attention, "and I also thought I told you that you
shouldn't call him Vicky."

Ooh,
she's pissed. Her skin's turning a deep scarlet—looks kinda good on her.

…where
did that thought come from?

"I
don't care if you don't want me to call him that!" I yelled back.
Everyone's watching now as though it was some sort of a demented wrestling
match. "I don't like him, and I don't care what he thinks!"

"What
about what I think?" she screamed right back, turning even redder. I
wonder if my ears are the same color as her cheeks.

"What
about what I think?" I retorted angrily, jabbing a finger in her face.
She swatted it off.

"I
don't even know what you're thinking about!" she snarled, her eyes
flashing threateningly. "You've been acting so differently tonight…it's
like you're a totally different person!"

"Well,
then I'll tell you what I think!" Oops. Do I really want to tell her?

"Go
right ahead!" she cried, crossing her arms.

"I
don't like it when you go out with Krum! I don't like it when you go out
with strange guys!" Of course, every guy is strange except for you…an
annoying little voice mumbled in my head.

"Viktor
is not strange!"

"Bullshit."
I yelled. I was getting extremely irritated, and the comment that came from my
own head was disturbing. I can't believe I just cursed right in Hermione's
face, though…I think that's something I should apologize about later.
"Krum can't even pronounce your name right! He…he…he sulks around
like a maniac! He goes to Durmstrang, and everyone knows that's not
a…a…commendable school!"

Hermione
looked extremely hurt. Right at that point, Harry walked in. We both ignored
him.

"Well,
if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" Her bun
was falling apart, I don't think I've ever seen her so angry.

It
took me a few seconds to answer. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Next
there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last
resort!"

Whatever
I was expecting for an answer, it wasn't what she said.

…but
that's not such a bad idea, asking her out on the next ball…I just hope
she's still not too angry at me by then.

Author's
Notes: Please r/r, I did this in the midst of my research, ick. I don't know
how it came out, or if it came out right. Thanks to alphabet for pointing out a
silly little mistake I happened to make. :) Silly me!

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.